Passed Network+ N10-005

I passed Network+ this morning. Final score 853.

I used
Todd Lammle's Network+ N10-005 (Good option)
Robb Tracy's Comptia Network+ Certification practice exams (in my opinion...not a good option)
Comptia.org Practice questions (N10-004) (good stuff)
And the Practice questions on this site (good stuff)

Todd Lammle's book is pretty solid. It's extremely detailed, covers everything on the exam, and Todd does a good job breaking down complex topics. The only down side is that Todd adds a lot of extras. He really wants people to understand networking and so a lot of his experience and knowledge comes flying out even though it may not be on the exam. This is where Darril Gibson really shines. Cut the fat and stick to the meat. Todd could have cut his book 150 pages, but the extras are interesting...just not so important on the Network+ exam.

Robb Tracy's book (in my opinion) is a horrible option for Network+. The test questions in the book are quite difficult and quite frankly are beyond the scope of the Network+ exam. A lot of the questions are focused on Cisco systems. I felt confident a week before taking the exam and pulled this book out to look over more questions. I was missing about ten every test, which is around 60%. There was stuff I never saw in Todd's book and for good reason..They are beyond the Network+ book. Cisco commands were all over.

Comptia's questions are good for practicing, but are a little more difficult than the actual test. I took Comptia's 100 question twice. First time I got 76, second time 75. The test is arranged so that every 6th question is from the same domain. When you get done, review your score and the ending metrics to decide where you're weak and you can look at every 6th question to see what the questions are from that domain. Even though it's N10-004, it's close to the N10-005.

The test questions on this site are a good option for review. I took it a week ago in the middle of study and got an 80. It was pretty good Network+ exam preparation material and even though it is N10-004..it works well for N10-005.

I went into the test freaked out because of Robb Tracy's book. I walked out a little upset because it was way easier than the questions in his book. I guess now I feel a little more confident about jumping into the CCENT and CCNA. I guess it's also good to over prepare...this book is the ticket for that.

Now that I'm looking at ICND1 (CCENT) and ICND2, is building your own lab the best way to go? Obviously, in terms of experience...not cost. I want to eventually get CCNA and CCNA Security certified.